Untitled Sermon (4)

When and How to Fight - DAY 1

Roe v. Wade flip - storytelling.

The Bible tells us and gives us examples throughout of Christians who fought well.

And these folks are celebrated.

David, Joshua, Jesus, Paul, John the Baptist…

The question we deal with is… how do we know when we should engage and when we should run away?

Define terms - fight?

Do I mean a physical altercation?

Well, it could. But what I’m really talking about is conflict.

Here’s the deal - Christians today are conflict-averse. We avoid conflict.

And when a conflict arises, we tend to want to avoid it at all costs.

The long awkward silence at the family reunion or thanksgiving dinner.

When someone makes a scene in a public place we take the long way around…

Unless - why? - we get angry and we lose control

Well see… that’s a problem.

We wait to lose control of our emotions in order to engage in a conflict.

That’s actually the WORST time to engage in a conflict. You’re not in full control. You aren’t thinking straight.

You see the problem? We avoid it, because it makes us uncomfortable, until we can’t control ourselves anymore and we lash out.

That’s not how to do this.

A general truth - “if you want to win a fight, punch somebody in the nose.”

Why? Because if you punch them in the nose, most people’s response is to swing wild. THey lose control. And guess who’s advantage that is.

This has been us, the American church, for the last fifty years or so.

We’ve been quiet, polite, non-engaging - until the bad guys show up and punch us in the face.

Then we lash out in anger, a lack of restraint, we swing wild and uncontrolled - and that just means that the body blows are coming in next.

Eph 4:26 - 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.

The gifts of the Spirit - Love Joy Peace Patience Kindness goodness and SELF CONTROL.

The very idea of us losing control, is a problem and it gives a ton of opportunity to the DEVIL.

You want the enemy to gain ground on you? Well he’s been running a two-fold play on us.

First he’s shamed us into silence, where we never say anything that could start conflict or disrupt our peace.

And then he pushes us too hard and provokes us into an emotional response.

So what’s the answer here? How do we know when and how to engage?

Wisdom. Our biggest problem is that we’re not wise.

Part of our issue is that we don’t know what wisdom is - I think when we think of wisdom we think of some sage, monk on the mountain top, spouting eastern proverbs with a reed pipe playing in the background…

And since we treat wisdom as this odd ethereal thing, we think it’s unattainable.

If you read proverbs - Wisdom is APPLYING what we know from the Bible rightly.

The nitty gritty details - the how.

Laying a proper course of action, a proper response.

IN OTHER WORDS - WITHOUT WISDOM

We can’t tell when it’s time to fight and when it’s time to lay back.

We can’t discern the times, which is why we’re in the situation we’re in today, the culture at large running amuck, because the church hasn’t done it’s job in proclaiming what is true.

One thing that the law of God does is restrain evil. Paul refers to it as a tutor. (Gal 3:19) And evil has been largely unrestrained for quite some time.

And we haven’t proclaimed what is true because we are simple, not wise. We didn’t even realize we were SUPPOSED to be.

Why aren’t we wise? Because we’re proud, and we don’t ask God for wisdom. We think we’ve got it already, apart from him, and that’s makes us WHAT? fools.

James 1:2-5 - Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Trials - adversity - it’s good for you. It changes you.

In other words - conflict is good for you. It helps to grow you, if you deal with it rightly.

Well how do we deal with it rightly, James???

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

“God, I need wisdom to know how to do this, how to fight well.”

And where is that first dose of wisdom coming from?

The fear of the Lord, of course.

You want to fight well in the world? Get your fears in the right order.